


Tango: Shouyou

by chaostheory08



Category: Haikyuu!!, Rent - Larson
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dancing, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Out of Character, Rent References, Song: Tango: Maureen (Rent)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26885227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheory08/pseuds/chaostheory08
Summary: Ushijima doesn't realize he's already dancing the tango.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	Tango: Shouyou

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I feel the need to explain myself HAHA. 
> 
> I saw @/daphreyes post something on Twitter mentioning "Tango: Maureen" but with Hinata dancing with every character he's shipped with in the dream sequence. Then I got the idea of Ushijima being the ever-suffering Joanne and Kageyama as Mark. And then I just kinda ran with it.
> 
> That discussion had me listening to both the RENT OBCR and OST, stopping every time at "Another Day" to listen to it a couple times lol. I studied RENT in college, even performed a few songs at practical exams in class. It's definitely one of my favorite musicals of all time. If you haven't seen it or listened to it, do yourself a favor and please do. (And yes, I have experience in ballroom dancing also.)
> 
> As for this fic, I tried my hardest. HAHA. I'm not even sure if it makes any sense. Hinata (bless this boy) is definitely out of character. He's really just there to serve as Maureen. Kageyama too is slightly ooc. But we all know Ushijima looks before he leaps and also loves margins and discipline, right? XD I've based this more on the Broadway lyrics rather than the movie version. Prior knowledge of RENT isn't required but you might enjoy it more if you're familiar with it.
> 
> Like every work I've posted, this is unbeta'd. English is not my first language. But please enjoy! 
> 
> AND DON'T CHEAT.

* * *

_He cheated._

_Fucking cheated._

Wakatoshi sat in his town car, brooding as usual. Buildings flew past but he wasn’t seeing any of it. His thoughts were filled with a certain orange-haired ray of sunshine. It was a new relationship but he’d never felt happier. Even if he was being cheated on. 

“Sir, we’re here,” his loyal driver, Semi Eita, interrupted his thoughts. Wakatoshi shook his head and stared out to the building in front of him. It was one of his, a newer requisition. He bought it with plans of turning into a performance space for up and coming artists. To be honest, it was for one dancer in particular.

“Thank you, Semi,” Wakatoshi said, exiting the car. “You are free to do what you wish until I call you again.” With a bow to each other, the men parted ways.

He let himself in with his key. He wanted to change it to a keypad but his boyfriend - _I never thought I’d say that word even in my head_ \- insisted they keep the key situation. He said it was more romantic, whatever that meant. His staff kept the floor space clean, one side outfitted to be practice rooms and a larger one as performance space. A stage was erected opposite the double doors but other than that, the place looked bare.

Wakatoshi checked his phone for the time. He normally didn’t do this, showing up himself at a work site. But he got a panicked phone call from another one of his men, saying that the engineer they hired was going to be late. “Three hours late, to be exact,” Shirabu said. “I can’t stay here any longer, Ushijima-san, I’m sorry. You know I would if I could.”

He understood. He had earned his men’s loyalty for being the same to them. “Okay, I will go there myself,” he sighed. “This must be done right.”

So there he was in the middle of the empty room. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine music. He grew up surrounded by classical Western music from his father and traditional Japanese instruments from his mother. His own thick and clumsy fingers could play the koto and piano. But when the Sun entered his life, he was not only blinded… but also overwhelmed by his energy, his sound. He knew of hip-hop music but never appreciated it until he met Shouyou.

_Hinata Shouyou_. 

He had Semi to thank for their first encounter. Semi, in his free time, was into street art and the underground music scene. Under his tailored suit, Semi Eita had several tattoos, including a full sleeve. Wakatoshi once caught Semi watching a video of some young men dancing at a park, a sizable crowd cheering for them. There were several performers: a flamboyant-looking man on what looked like a bucket drum set, a serious-looking man with piercing green eyes twisting and turning as if on a ballet stage. And in the middle was the actual sun, jumping and twirling to the beat. For some reason, Wakatoshi was mesmerized. He wanted to see it for himself.

“You do know this is a live feed, Ushijima-san,” Semi said with a slight smirk on his face. “If you’re done with your business here, we can still catch their performance.” All Wakatoshi had to do was nod.

They got to the park just in time for the final few minutes of the group’s performance. Semi joined the crowd, waving his phone to take a video while Wakatoshi stood a bit away, just watching. The group had attractive members but he only had eyes for one man. 

Wakatoshi already had a game plan as to how to introduce himself - including buying a dedicated performance space for him - until the dancer made his final bows and went straight to a dark-haired man holding a video camera. “Kagayama, wasn’t I the best?” the sunshine said, jumping up and down in front of this _Kageyama_. The cameraman gave a warm smile.

“The best, you dummy Shouyou,” Kageyama murmured. At that moment, Shouyou’s smile lit up his world. Wakatoshi’s heart felt so full until the shorter man jumped up and planted a kiss on Kageyama’s lips.

Later on, Semi awkwardly introduced him to the group. They then explained the complicated relationship they all had with each other. The drummer’s name was Oikawa Tooru and the other man was named Akaashi Keiji. Hinata Shouyou, Kageyama Tobio, and Akaashi were roommates. Kageyama and Shouyou used to date but, “We’re just _reeeeaaaalllly_ good friends now. Right, Kageyama?” Shouyou said, wrapping an arm around the taller man’s tense shoulders. 

Shouyo became a constant figure in Wakatoshi’s life shortly after that. It was wild and exciting to be with him. There was fun in all he did. Everything that Wakatoshi was missing, he found in Shouyou.

That was only a few months ago. And now, there he was, making sure things were perfect for Shouyou’s first solo show, a fundraiser for a children’s dance class. Closing his eyes, he could see Shouyou’s body moving to the beat, his hair an orange blur, his brown eyes bright with energy. It was everything that Wakatoshi loved.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” a voice broke the silence followed by the creak of the door’s hinges. “I’m the only one working in the area to… day. Oh.”

Wakatoshi turned and tried to control his facial expression. “Kageyama Tobio,” he said. Kageyama bowed in greeting. “I’ve hired an engineer.”

Kageyama shrugged his shoulders. “I’m the engineer, Ushijima-san.” He entered the room and placed his tools on a nearby table. “Hinata said you were having sound mixing problems?”

“I told him not to call you,” Wakatoshi sighed, following the younger man with his eyes. Both men were on the quiet side… yet they fell for one of the loudest persons in the world.

Kageyama shrugged again. “He didn’t exactly. He called our company and I’m the one they sent,” he explained. “While I’m the dance group’s cameraman, this is my actual job, Ushijima-san. So do you want my help or not?”

Wakatoshi stared at the other man a bit longer before gesturing towards a box with wires and a couple of microphones. “I don’t know the first thing about these but Shouyou mentioned something about samples…” 

Right away, Kageyama checked the wiring and connections. He set up the microphone on a stand and asked, “Ushijima-san, can you say something into the microphone?”

Awkwardly, Wakatoshi stepped up to the mic and said in a steady voice, “ _Check… one, two, three_ ,” as he’d seen Shouyou and his friends do many times before.

Kageyama scoffed and said, “Anything but that,” or at least it sounded like it to Wakatoshi. 

“Would you prefer me to say something else?” he offered. The engineer waved his hands and continued connecting and disconnecting cords. 

“This will take a while, Ushijima-san, so if you want to sit somewhere and wait,” the younger man said. “I can’t work with you watching me like a hawk.”

Wakatoshi blinked. “Very well. Would you like a late lunch, maybe? I assume you haven’t eaten yet if your previous clients took so long.”

“Yes, please,” Kageyama’s head popped up for a moment. “I can pay my share…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Wakatoshi waved him off. “Curry rice, miso soup, and seaweed salad, correct?”

Kageyama’s head popped up again. “How did you…?”

_Shouyou orders the same thing_ , he wanted to say but he waved Kageyama off again. 

The work was mostly done when their food delivery arrived. Wakatoshi asked Kageyama to eat with him, trying his hardest to think of something to talk about with the younger man. But for a few painful minutes, there were only the clang of chopsticks and sips of soup. 

It was Wakatoshi who broke the ice. “How did you do it? How did you deal with it?” He searched his brain for more words to properly express what he wanted to say.

Kageyama put down his chopsticks. His expression was calm as if he already knew what Wakatoshi wanted to say. “This is very weird, Ushijima-san,” he said. 

He was taken aback. He wasn’t sure if he should feel insulted or what.

It must have shown in his face because Kageyama backtracked. “No, I don’t mean it in a bad way. I think I know what you’re trying to ask me.” 

Wakatoshi held his breath and let Kageyama continue.

“He’s been driving you crazy, hasn’t he?” Kageyama’s stare pinned Wakatoshi in place. That one sentence hit the spot. 

“Insane. Completely insane,” Wakatoshi said in the rare show of emotion. He closed his eyes to keep himself together. “I’m unfamiliar with the game he’s playing. He’s always happy. I love that. He told me not to worry about things. But I question whether the reason for his happiness is me or… or…” he didn’t want to finish that sentence.

“Do you dance, Ushijima-san?” Kageyama asked suddenly. 

Wakatoshi shook his head. “At least not in the way Shouyou does,” he said. Kageyama made his way to the sound system he set up. Pressing a few buttons, the fierce twang of a guitar ensemble filled the room.

“I don’t either but have you ever tried dancing with him?” Kageyama leaned against one of the speakers. Wakatoshi recognized the music as something one would play when they dance the tango. “Have I told you how I met him? I went to ballroom dances with my grandfather when I was little. I danced until college. Hinata happened to be in the same dance studio as I was back then.” 

“I could never keep up with him,” Wakatoshi said. His voice sounded weak in his ears. “I wouldn’t know what to do. I feel like he is the one leading me when I should be the one doing it.”

Kageyama chuckled. “I never felt enough for him. He was always too much,” the younger man said. “He barged into my practice room, wide-eyed and in awe. He asked me to teach him how to dance the tango.” Kageyama suddenly took on a tango position. Wakatoshi jumped in his seat. “There I was… thinking that this shrimpy streetdance boy can never ever master such a refined dance.” He turned a few times, keeping his arms in position. “But by the end of that hour, he was the one leading me.”

“I don’t quite understand,” Wakatoshi said. He had lived his life as a leader, the boss. People bowed down to him and obeyed his orders. He commanded respect everywhere he went. But with a simple pout from Shouyou, all reason went out the window. It irritated him to no end when Oikawa-kun called him _Waka-chan_ but coming from Shouyou’s lips, he was a goner. 

Kageyama sighed. He’d heard it all before. He went through it himself. “Do you ever doubt him, Ushijima-san?” the younger man asked. “Whenever he comes home to you, do you wonder if he wanted to come home somewhere else?”

“No, never!” Wakatoshi answered rather violently. “Coming home to him is the best part of any long day.”

“Okay,” Kageyama held his hands up. “But have you ever wondered how he spent his day? Having watched him dance with many other partners, do you sometimes ask if that look he’s giving them is purely professional or is he flirting?”

He kept dancing by himself. Kageyama knew he wasn’t being fair but he wasn’t one to sugarcoat. He could count with all his fingers and toes every time he questioned that look... 

_When a bright-eyed Hinata asked Bokuto-san to teach him how to play the guitar, only to say he’d rather watch and listen to the older man play. Hugging his knees instead of Tobio right beside him, Hinata had hearts in his eyes as the guitarist played a slow love song._

_When Hinata challenged their gamer friend at Mario Kart and eventually ended up sleeping on Kenma-san’s lap after a few rounds. Tobio only stepped out for ten minutes to buy them food from the convenience store when he found them like that._

_When Hinata offered to be Atsumu-san’s dance partner for one of their competitions; even letting the blonde stay at their place when practice ran long._

The last one was hard. Miya Atsumu made it clear that he was interested in Shouyou. Even said it right in front of Kageyama. Shouyou just laughed and hung onto Kageyama like a monkey, proclaiming to everyone that he was already attached. That brought a smug smile on his face but at the back of his head, he wasn’t so sure. 

For once, Kageyama trusted his gut. And sure enough, Hinata ended their romantic relationship a week after winning the competition with Atsumu. 

“We’re better friends anyway,” Hinata said confidently. “You just don’t dance the way he does.” Kageyama stood at their genkan, the wind completely knocked out of him. 

“He’s cheating on me, isn’t he,” Wakatoshi said simply. It wasn’t posted as a question. Kageyama lowered his arms to his side and kept quiet. “And yet, why am I not hating him for it?”

The young engineer sighed. He started clearing up their lunch just so he’d have something to do.

“I’m supposed to be mad but, I’m not?” the older man continued. “I still want to do everything for him. I will still kiss him when he comes back home tonight. I can’t help but think I’m at fault, that I’m lacking somewhat. How did you do it?”

Kageyama sighed. He knew the feeling. He tried to be angry at Hinata, he really did. But later that night on the day they broke up, they were sharing a bowl of popcorn while watching an old drama. No mention of Miya except for the new wristband Hinata was wearing embroidered with the Miya Dance Boys logo of a fox.

“I feel like I lost,” Wakatoshi started. 

“I already lost, Ushijima-san,” Kageyama sighed as he stopped the music and disconnected all the cords. “But you’re not defeated yet. It’s up to you if you want to fight for him. Many of us tried, believe me, but we all failed.” He returned to his seat across from Wakatoshi. “But by gosh, I still love him. It’s a different kind of love now but I never stopped.”

The confession did not shock Wakatoshi. He understood it. Hinata Shouyou was a force that pulls you in and pushes you back out just as strongly. At that very moment, Wakatoshi didn’t have an answer but he was content with sharing the silent with someone who shared and understood his pain.

“Is this what dancing with him is like?” Wakatoshi asked.

Kageyama leaned back. Closing his eyes, he nodded. “The Tango Shouyou.”

* * *

So how many RENT reference did you catch?

Check out the difference between the OBCR lyrics and OST lyrics [**here**](https://rent.fandom.com/wiki/Tango:_Maureen).

Watch a clip from the 2005 movie [**here**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0QfCIQgD94).

~~(And I'm @tonicate10 on Twitter.)~~

**Thanks for reading!**


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